Tuesday, December 18, 2018 – Manzanillo, Mexico – Sunny 81F

It is a beautiful day in Mexico.

Our next stop on the Pacific Coast of Mexico is the port of Manzanillo.
  



Manzanillo is located along two bays, Bahia de Manzanillo and the Bahia de Santiago and has a population of just over 111,000. Based on past experience, there is not a lot to see by walking the streets of this town so we are opting for excursions.  We are the only cruise ship docked here today.



We are both on tour today – “Magic Pueblos – Comala and Nogueras”, which promises coffee tasting, optical illusions, and the Hidalgo Estate.

The description is a bit confusing but the tour turned out to be very interesting.  We boarded our comfortable bus for the ride to the town of Comala (very close to the larger city of Colima).





The driver told us that we would be able to see an amazing optical illusion involving the road we were on.  The driver said the road would look like a hill but it was actually level.  I have to say that both going and coming I could not see this illusion.  Perhaps, some tequila ahead of time would have helped.

Comala is known as "The White Village of America" as all of the buildings have been painted white (since the 1960s).  It has a population of around 21,000 people.

The stop here will involve first visiting the Nogueras Hacienda, the home of renowned artist Alejandro Rangel Hidalgo.  Hidalgo was born in 1923 and lived and worked most of his life at this family hacienda.  The property is now a museum and part of the University of Colima.  It is a beautiful property with displays of Hidalgo art (notably his famous Christmas Cards) and indigenous people's pottery.



We were given some free time explore the Hacienda and take photos.

One of the neatest items in the museum was a 300 year old sewing machine.





Our next stop was lunch in Comala.  The restaurant was right in the main square of the village and we all ate al fresco.  We had arranged for vegetarian entrees and the waiter said he had them.  We sat with a couple from the ship and we had a nice chat while waiting for the food to be served.  When our vegetarian dishes arrived - cheese based enchiladas, guacamole, and other Mexican items, our table mates started taking the items not knowing that their meals would be coming as well.  Well, they were quicker than we were and very little was left.  We told the waiter what happened and he said he would bring us some more of the same.  Our table mates also got their food so they had the best of both worlds.  I had a La Victoria Beer with lunch, a perfect companion for the food.  The food was absolutely delicious - one of the best meals we have had off ship.  I documented the event.





After lunch, we had some free time so we wandered around the town of Comala, and documented our visit by taking a picture of the town sign - we both got in this picture thanks to one of our shipmates.



Comala also has a very picturesque main square.


Our final stop was coffee tasting at a local coffee grower.

I thought there would be several coffees to taste but the tasting involved a small cup of their coffee (no decaf in Mexico).  The stop was so-so.

What was pretty cool was the view we got of Volcano de Colima.  This volcano, which towers 12,295 feet, is the youngest of three volcanoes in the area and is one of the most active volcanoes in both Mexico and North America.

The drive back to Manzanillo was relatively short and soon we were back on ship.

We had a small dinner as we were still pretty full from our massive Mexican lunch.

We watched the sail away from Deck 5.  A Mexican navy gunboat escorted us out of the bay and into open waters.






Showtime tonight featured Daniel and Kimberly Craig – acrobatics and comedy.  Daniel and Kimberly are professional "buskers" - street circus performers, who do their act over 200 times on the streets of Europe and North America.  Occasionally, they will do a gig on a cruise ship.  They are very entertaining and the audience warmed up to them.  Note - Kimberly is unrecognizable in her secret identity.

A very nice day in Manzanillo, Mexico.

Monday, December 17, 2018 – Puerto Vallarta, Mexico – Mostly Sunny – 76F

An absolutely beautiful day at our first Port of Call. 

I was up early enough - pre-dawn - to witness our arrival 

and also the arrival of the NCL Star.

You can see our room in this picture - the first window on the left of that group.

We are both on tour today – “Puerto Vallarta Highlights and Night of the Iguana Beach” (probably not the title but close).  The excursions are handled differently on Grand Princess this time round.  Usually, everyone gathers in the Theater in a section for their tour and an escort would lead them out to the pier.  This time, everyone just went out to the pier at the designated meeting time.  So much simpler and it seemed to work just fine.  We met our bus at 8:50 AM, got stickers that had our guides name on it – Danielle - and we were off. 

Our first stop was the Church of our Lady of Guadalupe – the church with the impressive crown on the spire.  This is right across from the famed Malacon and the main square.  We didn’t go in the church but rather took shots of the beach and Bay of Banderas.  So for us, this was free time and we would meet up with our tour at the designated time.

Visibility today was unlimited - one could see all the way across the Bay.  

I also got a terrific panoramic shot of the beach and bay.

There were some very amazing statues along the beach including an intricate sand sculpture of a man sitting on a throne. 

On the beach, there were several individuals constructing sculptures from the rocks.

From there, we drove to another area of town for a shopping and facilities stop.  Some passengers had to make a stop at the pharmacy and I explained what the Mexican meds were that they had purchased.

No trip would be complete if we didn't get a picture of the "American Embassy" or as we know it back home, Subway.  We have seen them almost everywhere we have traveled.  I might, however, still be a little hesitant to get a tuna sandwich at this particular one.


Once finished with shopping, we boarded the bus and headed away from the town to see the location used for the Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton iconic movie – “The Night of the Iguana” (directed by John Huston)”.  On the way there, we noticed a lot of building – condos mostly.  Some of Puerto Vallarta is not in good shape but condos continue to be built.

We came here on a vacation way back in 1985 and ate some fish tacos on the beach.  I can’t recall how we got here (rental car or cab).  Not only that, but we did not get sick from the tacos we bought from a shack on the beach - I actually got the Revenge later in the trip from eating a salad - I guess salads are not healthy everywhere.  

We stayed for a few minutes so people could get photos of the beach and surrounding areas.  






From there, we headed back to town for a drink stop at Oscar’s Restaurant.  The restaurant is located in a shopping area near the end of the Malacon.  I didn’t really care for the drink so, in the interest of food safety, I only took a sip.  We went up the stairs to the Malacon for more pictures. 

I wanted to taste some Tequila at Oscars so Danielle helped us find the tasting area.  We were the only ones there so we had the full attention of the bartender. 

I tried four different kinds of tequila from the white variety to the five years in the barrel type.  The tequilas were all very smooth.  We even tried the chocolate tequila.  I think our taster guy was expecting me to buy a bottle to take home but we said another time.

The shopping area is huge but we did find our bus pick up point.  Soon, we were heading back to the port.  We asked Danielle if we could get dropped off near our go to spa in Puerto Vallarta.  The driver wound up dropping us off right across the street.

When we walked up to Yegos Spa, it looked closed but I saw the “Abierto” sign on the door.  We walked in and there was only one person in the waiting area - a women from the NCL ship getting a pedicure.  We were told it would be a while until we got in.  As it turned out, in a few minutes, I was told that I could go in and that my usual therapist, Marta, was not only still working here but available.  The funny thing is that every time I see Marta, she looks a little different.
 

There was a little mixup and Ellen didn’t get in until I was nearly finished (language and confusion).  My massage was great and I waited for Ellen out in the lobby.

Ellen told me earlier that they were including at no cost a defoliation scrub so I asked Martha about it and she said I could get it if I wanted.  I opted in and took the treatment (about 10 minutes) just as Ellen was finishing up.  The massages and defoliation cost $30 plus tips.  Another bargain in Mexico.

We walked across the street to the brand new pier terminal.  As we started our long walk to the ship, we were picked up by a tram that took us right to our ship.

We had dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room because they had gazpacho, one of my favorite items, on tonight's menu.  I wound up having two bowls of soup along with a double sized Cesar Salad.  The rest of the dinner included the standard Salmon.  The dinner was wonderful.

It’s a late departure from Puerto Vallarta so there is no show tonight.  Instead, a local award-winning folkloric show was brought on board.  We were tired and didn’t go to the show.

I also paid a visit to Mike Witte and handed him the titles for the next cruise.

We watched the sail out from Deck 7.

A very nice day in Puerto Vallarta.

Sunday, December 16, 2018 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Warmer – 70s

Getting a little warmer outside but still no sun.

Once again, I am on at 9:30 AM in the Princess Theater so it’s up early and up to the Horizon Court.  I have had breakfast in the dark since the cruise started.  I tried a scrambled omelet with tomatoes, onions, and cheese.  It was OK.  The best breakfast item is the oatmeal.  You can’t get it yourself (maybe it’s messy or maybe it’s disease prevention, who knows).  The other good item on the buffet are the biscuits.  Still the best meal of the day.

A slight drop-off in attendance for this talk – “Forensic Detectives:  Identifying America’s Fallen Heroes” – Maybe 250 people. (We talked with Gary later in the day and he is also pulling small crowds – same as mine – and he has concluded that it’s the demographic on the ship).  I’ve run into a bizarre AV issue on this ship – for the last two days, I got all set up and did a checkout that everything was working.  When I started, the slides wouldn’t advance either via clicker or keys.  So, I rebooted and everything worked.  Today, I set up and kept checking the clicker and for some reason, there was no freeze up.  Good feedback from audience members.

It was warm enough to go up on Deck 15 Aft and relax on the couches – I am in the middle of Daniel Silva’s “The Rembrandt Affair” – another Gabriel Allon novel.  This one involves Nazi and Iranians so it is both historical and topical.  Not as much beat em up, shoot em up, but a lot of spycraft, which is also interesting.  Gabriel is getting up there in years and he is more cagey than scary.

The folks on this ship may not be big on lectures but they love the shows, especially the early show.  In order to get a seat you have to get to the theater at least 45 minutes early.  The show tonight features Vocalist Todd Alanson.  Todd, whom we saw on the Island Princess, is a terrific singer from Charleston, SC and NYC.  He is a Ovation Award Winner (LA theater scene) for “We Will Rock You”.  The theater was full and the Entertainment staff was enforcing the “no save” seats rule.

 

Todd put on a terrific show singing both popular stuff and show tunes – he tells good stories and really gets into the characters singing the songs (e.g. Les Mis).  One of his best numbers is as Javert singing "The Stars".

Saturday, December 15, 2018 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Coast of Mexico – Breezy – 60s

Formal Night 1.

A tossing and turning night – mostly due to the bed layout.  In our normal configuration, I wouldn’t be able to get out because the bed is against the wall.  So we tried to sleep at the other end.  With no headboard, the pillows wouldn’t stay put.  We’ll figure this out.

Got up early this morning because my talk is scheduled for 9:30 AM in the Princess Theater.  I was up in the Horizon Court at 6:15 AM (crazy, I know) just a little after they opened.  I am so glad that Grand Princess is open early for breakfast, in general.

The Princess Theater holds about 900 people and about 250-300 showed up for the talk – “Forensics and History: The Search for the Unknown Titanic Child”.  Considering the early hour and the actual number of English speakers, I considered this to be a good turnout.  Gary Shahan came on right after me so I made sure I finished right on time.

Still too chilly to take advantage of the couches on Deck 15 Aft.  I did venture out and took some pictures of the sea and deck.  We could see the coast of Baja Mexico in the distance.

I also spotted an NCL cruiser.

Some folks got really dressed up for formal night and some didn’t – I went with dress slacks, dress shirt, and tie.  Enforcing dress codes on the ship is a inexact process.

Showtime tonight featured the first production show – “Stardust”.  We’ve seen the show many times but, with each different set of singers and dancers, the presentations can be different.  This troupe has four singers (two and two) and nine dancers (three boys) (we heard there were some injured dancers on the mend).  The show, which features songs from the 50s was different – two of my favorite songs were cut – “Mr. Sandman” and “Johnny Angel”, and the two extra “singers” who do their background stuff at Stage Left were gone (also one of my favorite parts of the show).  The show was short – only 30 minutes – but still enjoyable because the Princess Singers and Dancers were very good.

Clocks go forward tonight

Friday, December 14, 2018 – At Sea – Pacific Ocean – Chilly – 60F

A cloudy and chilly first day at sea.

The seas are smooth (almost like a lake).

Our officers's cabin is comfortable and quiet.  

We are located in the bow of the ship - to get to Horizon Court, you just have to exit the crew area via the deck door and then walk the length of the ship to the aft section to access the elevators up to Deck 14.

I had my first breakfast of this cruise up in Horizon Court – oatmeal and a waffle – the cottage cheese and sour cream are “cruise versions” but, combined with jam, it all works.  The servers bring around coffee and I had a window seat (even though it was dark outside).  Breakfast is clearly the best meal up in the buffet.  The hand washer monitors were on the job and people were complying.

I had my first iced decaf skinny mocha latte (IDSML) in the International Café at New Grounds – my discount worked and the drink was OK but I will need to give them more prep details next time.

Princess has a cool app on their ship WiFi that will let you track your account and also the events of the day.  Very handy.

Lunch was also in Horizon Court - salad bar and some source of protein will most likely make up the bulk of the lunches during this cruise.

The first talk of the cruise was scheduled for 2:30 PM in the Vista Lounge.  “Forensics and History:  The Mystery of the Romanovs” drew a large audience (approximately 90 plus percent full (a big surprise).  The audience was interactive and chatty.  Hoping that the series has legs during this long cruise.

The ship does a very good job of advertising the presentation - for example, they put the program on their princess at sea intranet app.

Even though it was only the first day of the cruise, we went to Friday night services in Hearts and Minds on Deck 15.  The service was very quick but we did meet some interesting people and had Manischewitz Wine and pretty good challah.

We had dinner in the Michelangelo Dining Room (anytime dining) - Cesar Salad and Salmon are always a good choice.

Steve Cauoette was scheduled to do his Second Show on consecutive nights.  We opted not to go.

We discovered Steven Jaymes (from New Zealand) – piano vocalist in the Crooner’s Lounge.  He does a lot of Elton John and Billy Joel – he is a piano man after all.

Seas are smooth and the room is quiet.